Hormones and Sexual Dysfunction among Women - Term Paper Example

? How the imbalance of hormones plays a role in the sexual dysfunction of women? How the imbalance of hormones plays a role in the sexual dysfunctionof women? Hormones are chemicals. The bloodstream carries the hormones to other parts of the body, where they act on target tissue to produce physiological effects. Many hormones are produced by endocrine glands (which are ductless). Other tissues, like the heart and kidney, also secrete hormones (Dr. Conduit et al 2001). Hormones are released by certain cells or glands in human body which can affect human behaviour in many ways. Even a small variation in hormone level can make big changes in the behaviour of a person. Mood changes, inhibition of growth and immune systems, suppression, preparation of body for mating and fighting, preparation of body for puberty and parenting etc are some of the human behaviours in which hormones play its parts. People with hormone problems usually behave abnormally and in many cases, doctors by mistake, consider it as psychological problem rather than physical problem. For example, thyroid problems often make changes in the behaviour of a person because of the hormone changes. Serotonin, thyroxin, melatonin, dopamine, insulin, prolactin etc are some of the names of hormones which are known to even ordinary people. This paper analyses how hormones affect normal human behaviour and its effects on sexual dysfunctions among women. Hormones and normal behaviour As mentioned earlier, hormones prepare body for most of the activities in daily life. It has the ability to control emotions. During adolescent period, the effects of hormones can be more visible than any other periods of human life. It is a fact that teenagers show risky behaviours during the adolescent period. This is because of the hormone changes happening in their body. For example, adolescence is a period during which people will be most aggressive in their entire life span. Even for silly reasons, teenagers start fighting during this period because of the influence of hormones. Moreover, teenagers show more interests in sexual activities because of the growth of sexual hormones during their adolescence. Pleasure seeking is a common characteristic seen among teenagers. At the same time it should be noted that old people shows less interests in aggressive behaviours or sexual activities. This is because of the gradual exhausting of certain hormones. As in the case of all the other body organs, hormones are hyperactive during the teenage period and shows decline in its functioning as the person getting older. In short, hormones have the ability to affect the normal behaviour of a person in different ways. Hormones and sexual dysfunction among Women The study conducted among 32,000 women across the U.S., age 18 to older than 100, led by researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital and published in Obstetrics & Gynecology, found that 43% of all the respondents reported some level of sexual dysfunction, 39% reported lack of desire, 26% reported arousal problems, and 21% had difficulty reaching orgasm (Minton, 2009). The above findings clearly show that sexual problems or dysfunctions can occur to women as time goes on. There are many old women in this world who often complain about lack of interests in sexual activities. Their family life often gets into troubles because of their lack of interests in sex activities. Their husbands may not take such attitudes of their wives positively. They will attribute the loss of interest of their wives in sexual activities to lack of love towards them. But in reality, these wives might have loved their husbands much stronger than before; however because of the malfunctions of their sex hormones they were incapable of showing any interests in sex activities. The most important hormones made by the ovaries are known as female sex hormones (sex steroids) – and the two main ones are oestrogen and progesterone. During puberty, oestrogen stimulates breast development and causes the vagina, uterus (womb) and Fallopian tubes (that carry eggs to the womb) to mature. Each individual hormone follows its own pattern, rising and falling at different points in the cycle, but together they produce a predictable chain of events (Female Hormones, 2011) “With the decrease in the female hormone oestrogen that is related to aging and menopause, many women experience some changes in sexual function as they age, including poor vaginal lubrication and decreased genital sensation” (Sexual (Sex) Problems in Women, 2011). Oestrogen is the female hormone associated with their sexual activities. It should be noted that girls attain puberty much earlier than boys. In other words, sex hormones grow much faster among girls than in boys. At the same time, these hormones exhaust much faster among females than among males. In other words, girls show interest in sexual activities much earlier than the boys. A girl of 12 years of age may show more interest in sexual activities than a boy of the same age because of the early development of sex hormones. Same way, a lady of forty years of age may show less interest in sexual activities than a male of the same age. In short, the period of development and exhausting of sex hormones among males and females happen at different ages and as a result of that females show sexual dysfunction much earlier than the males. Apart from oestrogen, testosterone is another hormone associated with female sex dysfunction. Today, there is tremendous attention being focused on the role of testosterone for women. In fact, many women are being prescribed testosterone gels and creams off label, (without FDA approval). Therapeutic success for improving sexual desire is being reported on a regular basis in the sexual medicine and urologic journals (Ducharme PhD, n. d) It is common knowledge that male sexuality is closely associated with testosterone hormone. But only few people know that testosterone can affect female sexuality also along with male sexuality. In other words, unlike oestrogen, testosterone is a hormone which affects both male and female sexual activities. Testosterone exhausting takes place much slower than oestrogen exhausting and therefore the sexual dysfunctions with respect to this problem can occur only at a later stage. That is why male sexual dysfunctions normally taking place only at a later stage than the female sexual dysfunctions. Stress can prevent or inhibit testosterone production. In other words, people who undergo immense stress may not show many interests in sexual activities because of the shortage of testosterone hormone production. In other words, stress or anxiety indirectly associated with sexual dysfunction; both in men and women. Many women experience feelings of lost sexuality either shortly before, during or after menopause. Too often these women are given only estrogen and progesterone but not DHEA and testosterone therapy. When they continue to experience these feelings of diminished sexuality, women are sometimes usually advised to seek out psychological help. Women and men both experience decreased hormone production as they age, but often physicians only prescribe testosterone therapy for men. Women are often overlooked by their physician for this type of therapy and may experience frustration, but there is hope. Even though the female body produces only one-tenth of the amount of testosterone that a male does, that one-tenth has a tremendous physiological impact. This is especially true in regard to sexual desire (Testosterone and Female Sexuality, 2009) Thyroid problems can cause immense changes in the behavior of a person. Thyroids are classified onto two; hyper and hypo. Hyperthyroid is a disease in which the thyroid hormones are hyper active whereas in hypothyroidism, the thyroid hormones are less active. In both the cases, patients can show significant changes in their normal behavior. The desire for sexual activities will be less among people with Hyperthyroidism. Hyperthyroidism can cause mental problems also along with physical problems. In many cases, doctors by mistake, often start treatment for mental problems when a patient approaches him with thyroid problems. Hypothyroidism, a deficiency of thyroid hormone, is another common cause of sexual dysfunction and infertility both in men and women. With moderate to severe hypothyroidism, the symptoms such as depression, fatigue, increased sleep requirements, weight gain and constipation are usually easily diagnosed. However, with subtle degrees of hypothyroidism, the symptoms may be only mild fatigue and mild sexual dysfunction. Hyperthyroidism, which is an over-production of thyroid hormone can also lead to sexual dysfunction and infertility (Johnson, 2011). Conclusions Hormones can make drastic changes in human behaviour. When the hormone levels are in normal condition, people behave normally whereas when these values either increase or decrease, people will behave abnormally. Most of the human hormones have the ability to control emotions and moods and therefore the aggressive or liberal nature of a person can be attributed to the excess or shortage of certain hormone in that person. Sex is an activity in which the role of hormones is important. Oestrogen, testosterone, thyroid hormone etc are some of the hormones which can affect sexual activities of males and females. Oestrogen shortage is the most common factor for lack of desire for sexual activities among females whereas among males, testosterone shortage seems to be the major factor behind sexual dysfunctions. Thyroid hormones can also affect human sexuality in different ways. References 1. Dr. Conduit R, Dr. Kent S and Dr.Crewter S. (2001). Hormones and behaviour. Retrieved from http://www.stenmorten.com/English/bns/hormones.htm 2. Ducharme S. PhD, (n. d) Female Sexual Functioning and Dysfunction. Retrieved from http://www.stanleyducharme.com/resources/female_sexual.html 3. Female Hormones, (2011). Retrieved from http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/womenshealth/features/hormone.htm 4. Johnson M. (2011). Sexual dysfunction. Retrieved from http://www.drmarinajohnson.com/Articles/SexualDysfunction.aspx 5. Minton B.L. (2009). Sexual Dysfunction Study Reveals Poor Hormonal Health in Women and Men. Natural News. Retrieved from http://www.naturalnews.com/025476_women_sexual_dysfunction_health.html 6. Sexual (Sex) Problems in Women, (2011). Retrieved from http://www.medicinenet.com/sexual_sex_problems_in_women/page3.htm 7. Testosterone and Female Sexuality (n.d). Retrieved from http://www.revitaantiagingcenter.com/testosterone-and-female-sexuality Read More